The Placebo Effect
by meganedanshi
Summary: 99% of the time his data is always right. Never in his life did he imagine that a mere 1% can change everything until it involved a certain granddaughter of their tennis coach. Warning: Crack Pairing.
1. Prologue

**The Placebo Effect: Prologue**

**A/N:** I'm half proud half embarrassed to say that this is the only fanfic about them here on FFnet. Give it a chance?

Also the italicized words in between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes.

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><p>.<p>

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It was a normal day in the tennis courts of Seigaku. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the regulars of the tennis club were running as if their lives depended on it, their coach was watching and a certain bespectacled young man was writing continuously on his notebook while his eyes were forever hidden behind his glasses. It was also of great importance to take note of the large container with the words "Inui Juice" innocently placed near the benches.

Everything seemed to be perfectly in place. Well, of course not everything was the same. The famous Seigaku tennis players were now in high school. Meaning, they're taller, smarter, and stronger and maybe even more mature than they were a few years back. Well, hopefully.

"_There's bound to be more data to gather and information to process,"_ thought Inui Sadaharu. He was quite pleased with the fact that their favorite first year teammate was back because he serves as a great source of data.

"_Not just him though,"_ he mentally noted as his eyes take in the figure of Ryuzaki Sakuno walking towards their direction. Inui flipped the pages of his notebook until he reached his collected data on her.

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><p><em>Sunny day:<em>

_55% Pony tail_

_20%- French bun_

_15%-Single braid_

_10%- A clip on bangs_

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><p>He smiled in satisfaction for he is correct yet again. He noticed most of the club members except for the regulars shifted their gaze towards her. Well, who could blame them? She has grown up to be quite a beauty. She seemed oblivious to her effect on the male population though.<p>

Her grandmother finally noticed her because one second year student who was holding a basket full of tennis balls tripped causing the balls to scatter all around the court. Ryuzaki Sumire silently sent death glares at her students in an attempt to scare them off. She sighed dramatically when she found out that it wasn't as effective as she thought it will be because some still had the guts to look back at Sakuno.

"I didn't know having a pretty granddaughter could be this tiring," she muttered to herself unaware that Inui heard her. She walked over to Sakuno who was smiling brightly at her.

Inui took a few steps and readied his pen as he frantically wrote about the different reactions of their club members when Sakuno smiled. Some blushed, some had managed to fall flat on the ground, some weren't able to return the ball but the most interesting above them all is still the regulars' reactions. They were passing by at exactly the same time she smiled.

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><p><em>Reactions:<em>

_Blushing- Eiji, Oishi and Ryoma_

_Smiling- Kawamura and Fuji_

_Unaware/ Unaffected- Kaidoh, Momoshiro and Tezuka_

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><p>He continued observing the scene until he heard another interesting piece of data. It came from the ichinen trio.<p>

"I really wished we had someone like Ryuzaki as our manager."

"What made you say that, Horio-kun?"

"Well, after my five years of experience in tennis and the opinion of one of my friends from the basketball team. We concluded that having a female manager can improve the team's performance!"

"Do you understand what he's saying, Katsuo?"

"No, not really."

"Just listen! Ryuzaki has been like our manager when we were in middle school but that suddenly changed when we entered high school! She hasn't been coming to practice as often as before and-"

"What she does with her time really isn't our business, Horio-kun."

"That's not it! I'm just saying that having a really cute manager can give some sort of support or inspiration for the team! Just imagine! A cute girl cheering her heart out for you, isn't that great?"

After that the three began daydreaming about what Horio said while Inui can't help but put it all down in his notebook.

"I must verify this," he said and quickly moved away. He was too absorbed in his writing that he literally walked into the bench where cups of his new creation were placed. The liquid spilled on him and instead of trying to clean up the mess before it stained his pants and shoes he chose to save his notebook first. He looked down for a moment calculating how much time he has left before the liquid stains his clothes. A soft voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Ano, Inui-senpai. You can use this," Sakuno said and handed out her handkerchief. A look of concern graced her features as she gazed back at him.

His face then felt warm all of a sudden that it took a few good seconds before he managed to process what she has said.

"Thank you," he uttered as he took the handkerchief. Their hands slightly touch and the contact made his heart skip a beat , his palms sweat and his stomach twist in an uncomfortable way.

_What in the world?_

Inui furrowed his brows at the handkerchief while pondering over what the hell is happening to him. He was not aware that he was being observed by the girl in front of him.

"Inui-senpai?"

No response.

"Eto…"

After not receiving a response again, Sakuno placed her hand to his arm in an attempt to gently shake her senpai back to his senses. She wasn't expecting him to act so surprised from her little gesture.

"!"

"S-senpai?"

"Ah… Yes?"

"Are you really alright, senpai?"

A few seconds passed before Inui finally came up with an answer.

"Yes, I am. Although I think I might be experiencing some mild form of heatstroke."

.

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><p><strong>AN:** It hasn't been proofread or anything so I'm sorry for some mistakes. So should I continue this or burn it now?


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I decided to try a different style in writing because I'm not really comfortable with how I wrote the prologue so here.

Also the italicized words in between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes.

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1<strong>_

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><p>..<p>

...

...

"That is all," the voice of Kunimitsu Tezuka quickly ended his announcement after seeing that most of his teammates' faces are turning into a disturbing greenish or bluish color except for Fuji. He casted a glance towards the perpetrator, their data gathering tennis player, Inui Sadaharu.

"There's a 2% chance that you're going to ask me what I gave them," Inui said still holding on to his trusted pen and notebook. Their stoic captain only stared at him blankly before turning around and walking away.

"And a 98% chance that you would ignore that remark and thread towards Ryuzaki-sensei instead," he finished a smile of satisfaction can be seen on his face. Although he can't accurately gather data about Tezuka with regards to tennis, he was actually quite proud that it wasn't the same when it came to other matters. He pushed his glasses up and observed the scene before him. Momoshiro and Kaidoh were still arguing despite the occasional covering of their mouths to avoid vomiting. Oishi was helping Eiji stand up from the ground so that they could head straight to the fountains. Fuji was holding out a water bottle to Kawamura who was sitting at one of the benches. Last but not the least, their first year regular, Echizen wobbly walked towards the nearest vending machine.

_(( Up until now, Echizen still continues to drink Ponta after taking in one of my creations. ))_

Feeling accomplished for the data he gathered at today's practice, Inui decided to head towards the clubroom to change and pack up his things. He was quite excited to try out this new recipe he had come up with. Upon reaching his destination, he noticed the ichinen trio walking towards him while holding different tennis equipments. He opened the door for them seeing that their hands were quite full at the moment. The three freshmen thanked him before entering the clubroom.

"I need to verify what you guys were talking about yesterday," he said surprising them with his unexpected comment.

"Ah! Inui-senpai!" the three chorused before looking back at him in confusion.

"Gomen, senpai but we don't know what you're talking about," Kachiro politely replied.

"I'm talking about that hypothesis of having a female manager can boost a team's performance," he said whipping out his notebook ready to write whatever useful information he can get.

"Oh that one! Well, the basketball team's standing has greatly improved after they have gotten a female manager for the team. Well, not only them but also other teams here at school too. You can even check with their coach to see their development," Horio explained feeling overly confident as if he just said something very intellectual.

"Really? That's interesting," Inui noted as he scribbled something on his notebook. He thanked them for all their help and excused himself to make a few calls. A few minutes later, the regulars came in one by one to take showers and prepare their things before going home.

"Oi Mamushi! Don't sit on my shirt!" a half naked and towel-clad Momoshiro angrily spat out. Kaidoh stood up and glared at him before replying with,

"Huh? It isn't my fault your shirt looks like a rag!"

"Do you want a fight, bandana freak?"

"Bring it on, porcupine head!" But before they could finish their argument the reprimanding voice of their vice captain immediately stopped them.

"Momoshiro! Kaidoh! Stop it! You don't want Tezuka to be the one to punish you," Oishi scolded them his arms crossed over his chest. The young lad still hadn't outgrown his mother hen-like attitude. The two second years scowled at each other one last time before looking away.

Just then, Tezuka suddenly emerged from the doorway and headed straight to his locker. His face still showed no signs of what he was actually thinking. He was about to open the door to his locker when Inui suddenly appeared beside him and called out.

"Tezuka."

Tezuka looked at the other bespectacled boy waiting for him to continue.

"I have a suggestion. The team should have a female manager."

A slight raise of his brows was the only indication of his surprise to the remark but it was enough to catch the attention of almost all of the people there especially a certain auburn haired tensai who was already taking a few steps towards them.

"_Now where did this come from?" _Tezuka silently thought. Honestly, his teammate really had a knack for sprouting out unusual things at exactly the right time.

"Why?" he asked ignoring the warning alarms in his head. Inui merely opened his notebook to read some of the data he had gathered.

"Apparently, having a female manager can also help improve the team's standing. According to my sources, Seigaku's basketball team, baseball club and football club have all gotten better since a female manager joined them. I checked it all with their coaches and they all said the same thing," he pushed his glasses up after finishing.

"Really? That's cool! Ne, buchou maybe we really should have one!" Kikumaru Eiji excitedly joined in on the conversation.

"I'm going," Echizen said as he exited the room clearly not interested in the topic.

"Oi, Echizen wait up!" Momoshiro exclaimed and ran after the first year.

"Fssh," Kaidoh grabbed his bag and also walked out of there sharing the same disinterest with Echizen.

"I don't think that's the real reaso-"

"You forgot your racket, Taka-san. I think Momo and Echizen wanted to meet you outside," Fuji interrupted Kawamura before he could even finish his sentence.

"BUUUURNIIIIING! YEAH! WHERE ARE YOU TWO GOING WITHOUT ME?" Kawamura shouted at the top of his voice and then quickly ran outside to chase the others. Leave it all to Fuji to make things more complicated for their captain. Tezuka internally sighed as he was left to deal with the expectant looks that his team was giving him. He shifted his gaze to Oishi who shrugged his shoulders as an indication that he doesn't have any idea where Inui got this information from.

"I'll talk to Ryuzaki-sensei about it," Tezuka responded not wanting to make this conversation get out of hand.

"You can also tell her that I have the perfect candidate to fill in that position."

"Inui," he stressed out his name to emphasize that this conversation is now over. Unfortunately, some people wanted this to go on.

"Saa, Tezuka, I also want to hear more of Inui's suggestion. After all this is about the team and well, obviously, we're part of the team too. Right, Oishi?" Fuji interjected earning an unsure nod from their vice captain. The stoic captain of Seigaku finally decided to respond to his words with a glare while Fuji just smiled and feigned innocence to his silent warning. If Tezuka was a captain who abused his power and authority he might have already barked out laps at his teammates but he wasn't so instead he shifted his icy stare at the root cause of this conversation.

Sensing that their captain had finally given his approval, Inui continued their conversation.

"The best candidate would be…Ryuzaki Sakuno."

'_One, two,three,'_ Inui mentally counted while waiting for them to process his words.

"EH?" Oishi and Eiji blurted out and looked at Inui as if he grew two heads

"I said Ryuza-"

"No," Tezuka instantly cut him off.

Inui scribbled down every reaction he got especially the frown that was plastered on their captain's face. Even though the slight change in his features was miniscule it was clear enough for the other bespectacled boy that he was a bit affected with the suggestion. _Now, I only have to figure out why he's so against it._

"That's a great idea, Inui." Fuji smiled approvingly.

"Well, that would be a logical decision, nya! After all, Ryuzaki-chan was always with us during middle school!" Eiji grinned.

"_Tezuka doesn't seem to think so,"_ Inui thought while Fuji chuckled at him as if he read his mind.

"What idea?"

All five of them whipped their heads to the direction of that voice and were surprised to see their coach standing in the doorway her arms folded across her chest with her face showing mild curiosity. They must have been too preoccupied with their discussion that nobody noticed her come in. They immediately crossed out the idea of her knocking because well, she never did knock every time she came to the clubroom.

"Ah. Ryuzaki-sensei, Inui just told us some interesting suggestion. Tezuka was about to ask for your thoughts on the matter but since you're already here we might as well tell you now. Right, Oishi?" Fuji said waiting for their vice captain's words since he had been awfully quiet about the ordeal.

"Eh..uhm. Yes that would be that case," he answered and scratched the back of his head unable to look at their captain.

"So, what is this about, Tezuka?" she asked oblivious to the weird tension enveloping her students.

"I'll leave the explanation to Inui. It is _his_ suggestion after all," Tezuka pointed out before proceeding to open his locker and tuning out the rest of this conversation. Frankly speaking, he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of their coach's wrath after hearing that some of them wanted her granddaughter to become the manager for the team. This could've been done during their middle school days because she was still interested in tennis but now he didn't see her frequent the courts so that must mean she was spending her time on something else. He didn't want to force her just because of this ridiculous idea that their team performance would increase upon getting a female manager.

"We should have a female manager. Apparently, having a female manager can also help improve the team's standing. According to my sources, Seigaku's basketball team, baseball club and football club have all gotten better since a female manager joined them. I checked it all with their coaches and they all said the same thing," Inui mimicked his last explanation for their coach.

Ryuzaki Sumire chuckled at the suggestion while shaking her head.

'_Boys will be boys_,' she thought.

"I'm guessing you already have someone in mind for this job?" she inquired amusement evident in her tone.

"Yes. The perfect candidate for this is-"

"You know what maybe we should discuss this first with the other regulars. They might have someone _else_ in their minds to fill in the position," Oishi laughed nervously. His senses told him to stop this conversation from heading to that direction. If their captain denied the request then of course, their coach who was _the grandmother_ of Ryuzaki Sakuno would have the same sentiments. She might even be furious at the thought.

Coach Ryuzaki raised a brow at the vice captain's words.

"Don't worry about it, Oishi. I only want to hear your suggestions. We will still debate on this matter with all the regulars," she assured the young man.

"You're still a big worry wart ne, Oishi?" Kikumaru teased earning a small blush from Seigaku's mother hen.

"I remembered I left something on the courts. Do you mind helping me find it, Eiji?" Oishi blurted out and dragged the redhead along with him before Kikumaru could even protest. The action only confused their coach but she did not voice it out. She faced her other students waiting for the continuation of their conversation.

"Saa, Inui. Who was the best candidate again?" Fuji asked as if he completely forgot.

Inui adjusted his glasses and readied his pen and notebook before speaking.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno."

Tezuka didn't know if he was only imagining things but the room's temperature seemed to drop after Inui spoke. He slowly closed his locker and turned to see their coach's reaction. Her smile seemed to be stuck on her face while her brows were knotted showing her agitation about the matter.

"I'm sorry. I think I might've misheard you, Inui. Care to repeat that?" There was a certain stress on her words and for once their data tennis player hesitated to reiterate what he just said.

"Actually, I think I'm going to heed Oishi's advice for now," Inui cleared his throat and closed his notebook. He then stealthily left the room not waiting for any response.

Fuji's smile turned to a small frown because of the course of events. He was quite disappointed with the results.

"_Saa, I can always persuade Inui to go on with his plans,"_ he thought his previous disappointment now forgotten. His thoughts were now centered on Inui's suggestion. He promptly excused himself and proceeded to go home leaving behind their trusted captain to fend for himself against their not so happy coach.

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><p>Inui scanned the writings on his notebook trying to figure out what caused his plan to be put off for a while. He didn't consider his plan to make Ryuzaki Sakuno as their female manager as a failure just yet. Managing to escape their coach's wrath doesn't equate to his plan being a failure. He was briskly walking up the stairs while taking two steps at a time. Classes were long over and the chance that he'll bump into someone along the way was very slim. His data however proved it otherwise. He had his notebook plastered on his face that he didn't see Sakuno walking down the stairs as well.<p>

"Inu-" she was about to greet him properly when he unceremoniously bumped into her thus causing her to lose her balance. Her scream pierced through the quiet air and she had honestly thought she was going to hit her head on the floor. She braced herself for the painful impact only to feel something warm envelope her. A few seconds passed before she opened her eyes to see Inui acting as her cushion and breaking her fall. She was about to stutter an apology when she saw the painful look on his face.

She quickly sat up and checked him for any external injuries her embarrassment now clearly forgotten.

"Where does it hurt senpai?" she asked in a worried tone while looking over him.

At the sound of her voice, Inui managed to open one eye to look at her.

"I'm sorry about that, Ryuzaki," instead he apologized while mentally berating himself for his actions. If he was only paying attention to where he was walking then he could've missed her and they wouldn't be in such a predicament.

"Ano! Don't worry about it,senpai! I'm alright," she interjected not wanting to blame her senpai for the accident. She stood up and held out her hand to help him as well.

"Can you stand senpai?"

"Yes, I think so," he managed to say and clasped his hand with hers. A stinging pain suddenly shot through his hand eliciting a gasp from him. He was about to brush it off as nothing but Sakuno had caught on to his reaction. She carefully inspected his hand and saw that it was beginning to swell up.

She immediately felt guilty for what had happened. If she was only careful enough to not lose her balance then they wouldn't be in such a predicament right now. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying and making her senpai feel even more worried. She already guessed that he was blaming himself for the accident because of his apology.

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><p>"I'm sorry, senpai," Sakuno uttered not knowing how to make it up to him. They were currently at the infirmary waiting for the nurse to come back after informing her grandmother of what happened to one of the members of their team. Fortunately, it was Inui's left hand that was sprained and not his dominant one. He could still play but he won't be able to utilize both his hands when returning the balls.<p>

"I should be the one apologizing, Ryuzaki," he smiled. He already had a clear view about her personality but it still amazes him of how far her kindness stretched. It was clearly his fault that this had happened yet she somehow thought otherwise.

"B-but it isn't your fault, senpai," she insisted only to be stopped by the look on his face. Her gaze fell down and her hands fumbled with the hem of her skirt. She always did this every time she felt shy, distraught or uncomfortable. It was a habit that she never really outgrew.

Of course, he knew about this fact as well that's why he felt rather guilty about it. He wanted to change the topic and as if by coincidence a particular thought popped in his mind.

"Ryuzaki," he called out to her.

"Hai?"

"Are you interested in becoming the manager for the team?"

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><p><strong>...<strong>

**..**

**.**

**A/N:** Please leave some reviews about what you think of it!


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: Misunderstandings**

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><p><span>Author's Note :<span> I'm sorry for the delay in updating! I edited the first chapter but not as much that the story will be affected by it.

Also, there's a minor spoiler about the New Prince of Tennis in the beginning of this chapter.

Lastly, thank you for the lovely reviews, alerts, hits and faves! I really appreciate all of it!

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi-sensei and other rightful owners not me.

Italicized words between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes.

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><p>...<p>

...

...

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><p>Inui Sadaharu, 3rd year high school student, walked along the uphill road towards Seishun Gakuen while quietly enjoying the peaceful atmosphe- no, scratch that. He didn't feel any peace <em>at all<em>. If the sweaty palms, fast beating heart and disturbed expression on his face weren't indications enough of his predicament then the illegible writings on his notebook could most likely provide basis.

The only time he ever looked this way was when he was sick during his match against Mizuki Hajime from St. Rudolph at the U-17 Camp and that wasn't a very pleasant memory. He inwardly shuddered upon remembering it and heaved a huge sigh. He took out his notebook and began to randomly scan through the pages only to stop short when his gaze fell upon a name: Ryuzaki Sakuno. He promptly closed it and shoved the thing back in his bag with much force. He began pacing around in circles as he remembered the event that had transpired yesterday afternoon.

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><p><em>"Are you interested in becoming the manager for the team?"<em>

There were only a few instances when he acted on impulse without calculating the different probabilities of possible outcomes and that included unceremoniously asking Ryuzaki Sakuno to be their female manager without the initial approval of their captain nor their tennis coach.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

They were now staring at each other as the seconds ticked by and he felt a lump in his throat forming as he continued gazing at mesmerizing auburn orbs in front of him and the interesting way her cheeks turned into a slight pinkish color. He dutiful took note of that in his head seeing that it would be awkward to suddenly bring out his notebook.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

The sound from the wall clock was deafening to him and he wondered if he had actually said those words to her. Luckily, he didn't have to repeat his question because she finally spoke up.

"A-ano..,"she started but was immediately cut off by her senpai.

"You don't have to answer right away. These things shouldn't be taken lightly so I'll wait for your answer," he stressed. He didn't know why but the hint of reluctance he heard in her voice made him panic and blurt out these words.

"Ah..Hai. Thank you, senpai," she said and offered him an appreciative smile. He in turn replied with a smile of his own. That same feeling he had when their hands made contact came back to him but his attention was mainly focused on a certain brunette.

Oishi Shuichirou, 3rd year high school student, stood in front of the ajar door of the infirmary. Nothing out of the ordinar- scratch that. To descibe his feelings as shock was an understatement. He had just heard his friend and fellow regular, Inui, asking their coach's granddaughter to be his...his.. his girlfrie-

He sweat-dropped. No. No. No. This can't be happening! Out of all the people who could have witnessed this why did it have to be him? He was just going to ask the school nurse for some bandages since he didn't want to pass by the convenience store on the way home. He didn't sign-up for something like this! Why couldn't it have been someone else? Someone who didn't personally know the two of them?

_"You don't have to answer right away. These things shouldn't be taken lightly so I'll wait for your answer." _Inui's words replayed in his mind and he felt the heat crawl up to his cheeks._ 'I wasn't even aware that Inui could say such things,'_ he mused.

He lingered on for a few more seconds because of the unfairness of it all before deciding to get out of there _fast._ It didn't take a genius to figure out what dark future would befall on him once Inui finds out about his unwanted presence during this private affair. His brain already conjured up frightening images of unidentifiable liquids being forced down his throat and rigorous training manuals that would leave him begging for dear life.

He hasn't seen their data specialist angry before and he didn't want to find out so he kept his mouth shut even after being bombarded by questions from his doubles partner about his ghastly look.

And that was how the story of Seigaku's vice captain inconveniently misunderstanding the relationship between Inui and Sakuno began.

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><p><em>The next morning...<em>

Oishi stiffled a yawn as he made his way through the school gates. Dark circles had formed under his eyes and his sunny disposition took a 180-degree turn after what happened yesterday. He couldn't sleep properly because of too much thinking.

_Should he tell Inui that he saw them? What if Inui already saw him yesterday? What should he do? Should he just keep quiet or tell someone? What if Inui was rejected? Will it affect his performance in tennis? Will people ask him about what happened? Should he lie for his teammate's sake or should he tell them the truth? What if Sakuno said yes? What will happen to Echizen? Did he know about this? What will their coach say? Would she blame him for not telling her? Would telling her make him a blabbermouth?_

These questions plagued his mind throughout the entire night that he didn't even notice it was already morning if it wasn't for the sun's rays shining through his bedroom window. He adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder before suddenly stopping when he heard someone call out to him.

"Oishi, good morning," Inui greeted him.

"I-I-INUI!" he blurted out in a high-pitched voice. So much for pretending he was innocent.

The bespectacled boy just quirked his brow at his teammate's _very_ unusual reaction. He took out his notebook and pen and began writing down his observations.

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><p><em>Date: X<em>月 X日

_Time: 7:09 A.M._

_Location: Seigaku's Gates_

_Subject: Oishi Shuichirou_

_Observations:_

_Very unusual high-pitched response. Agitated movement (fidgeting with bag strap). Dark circles under eyes._

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><p>"Are you alright?" Inui asked. Despite gathering data for the benefit of their team, he was still first and foremost the vice captain's friend and his concern for his well-being was genuine.<p>

"Uh..Y-yeah!"

"Say have you seen Tezuka anywhere?"_ If this was the normal Oishi he would provide further information about his answer._

"Ha? Ah..er..Nope."

"What about the others?" _Let's try again._

"N-no idea."

"I see," he nodded.

"..." Oishi merely looked away and stepped aside awkwardly.

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><p><em><em> Profuse sweating despite cool weather. <em>Short verbal responses with more speech fillers. Avoidance of eye contact._

_Observations lead to the following possible causes of Oishi's unusual behavior:_

_35% - Nervousness _*needs verification__

_35% - Constipation *most likely due to the yakisoba bread he ate for lunch yesterday_

_15% - Lack of sleep *an effect of the constipation_

_15% - other external factors *needs verification_

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><p>Inui pushed up his glasses and frowned at the probabilities that he had written down. He would likely discuss this with Tezuka and Eiji during their afternoon practice for they were the perfect candidates to discern what might be bothering their vice captain. He would have asked Oishi upfront but seeing as his friend wasn't adept on answering his questions at the moment he opted for the other choices.<p>

Upon thinking of Tezuka he immediately remembered his predicament. He swiftly threaded towards the school's main entrance not wanting to bump into their buchou this early in the morning. He was still thinking of different ways on how he could relay the fact that he had just asked Sakuno to be their manager without their consent. He took into account his data that there was a high probability that he would come face to face with Tezuka if he lingered at the gates for any longer. What he didn't paid attention to was the relatively low possibility of bumping into a certain someone. He certainly wasn't expecting any miscalculations this bright and early morning. And so to contradict that statement, Inui stealthily side-stepped and jogged his way to the other entrance of the school building located at the south. He purposely pretended to not hear that certain someone call out to him and proceeded to go to his shoe locker. He had just managed to escape a confrontation with Ryuzaki Sakuno.

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><p><em>((The reason for avoiding Ryuzaki: unknown))<em>

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><p>Oishi finally let out the breath he didn't notice he was holding when Inui walked away without anymore questions. His relief, however, was short-lived when he noticed Sakuno approaching him with a little knot on her forehead.<p>

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Oishi-senpai," she greeted upon standing in front of him.

"O-o-ohayou, Ryuzaki," he stuttered earning him a confused look from the girl.

"Ano... senpai. Do you know where Inui-senpai went? I saw him talking to you a while ago but when I called out to him he didn't seem to hear me,"she told him.

_What? Does that mean he was rejected? _

Various scenarios drifted in and out of his mind on how to explain his friend's actions that he completely forgot about the girl. He was pacing back and forth while biting the tip of his thumb in contemplation.

"Eto... Oishi-senpai?"

_But she didn't give him an answer yesterday!_

"Senpai?"

_ What if she said 'no' after I left the two of them? _

"Are you alright?"

_ What should I do? Should I give him some advice?_

"Ano..senpai?"

_But I don't have any kind of experience with these situations!_

Oishi grabbed a fistful of his hair and groaned in frustration. A hand suddenly grabbed his arm and shook it gently. He turned to his right side and saw Sakuno's concerned look. He immediately straightened up and cleared his throat while trying not to think about his embarrassing behavior.

"I.. I have no idea where he went," he admitted.

"Ah.. Is that so?" she sighed and bit her lower lip. He thought that their conversation was over and was about to leave first when she suddenly spoke up.

"Ano.. Senpai, can you please tell Inui-senpai that I was looking for him and eto... if it's alright for him to meet me during lunch time?" Her hopeful look was enough to make Seigaku's vice captain nod his head in silent agreement. She gratefully smiled at him before bowing her head and moving towards the school's entrance leaving behind an agitated Oishi.

* * *

><p>Inui was busy multi-tasking in his desk as their teacher continued with their lesson. Aside from taking down notes about the subject he was also quietly observing his teammates particularly their vice captain who looked much worse than when he had first seen him at the gates this morning. He wasn't the only to notice the odd happenings since their blue-eyed tensai was also casually glancing at Oishi. He didn't know if he was only imagining things but Oishi looked even more tensed after making eye-contact with him.<p>

_Rrriiiiiiiiiiinnngggg_

The bell signaled that the class was over and lunch time had began. Inui heard a collective sigh from his classmates as they began chattering about how long it took for the class to end and what food would they eat during the break. He was about to stand up and walk towards Oishi only to be visibly surprised when he saw that the latter was already running out the door.

"Nya, Oishi!" he heard Eiji call out before following his doubles partner.

Fuji was now heading towards him with a slight frown of concern.

"Do you have any idea what's bothering our vice-captain?" Fuji asked as they both continued looking at the doorway.

"I do. And his current behavior had just increased the percentage of one of the probabilities," he said as he re-wrote his earlier observations on their friend. His statement was able to bring back the smile on the tensai's face.

"Saa, what would that be?"

"Constipation."

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note:<span> I just love Oishi's mother hen-like attitude and Inui's too cute I can't even asdfghjkl.

And just to clear things up Oishi didn't hear Inui's question to Sakuno about becoming the manager. He just _conveniently_ heard the other stuff.

Regarding the story, I'm still trying to figure out what I should do with it so if you have any suggestions or comments I would like to hear them all ^^


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi-sensei and other rightful owners not me.

Author's Note:

I am thankful to those who read,reviewed and placed this in their alert list! Sorry for the delayed update. My laptop just died on me and I had to work hard for a new one.

Again, italicized words between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 3: Improbabilities<strong>

* * *

><p>He was torn between two choices. He could either <em>pretend<em> that he completely forgot about the favor she had asked but that would mean he neglected his responsibilities as a friend and senpai _or_ head back to the classroom, relay the message to his friend and deal with the inevitable interrogation by Eiji, Fuji and Inui. Frankly speaking, he'd prefer not to do both since he's going to die a little inside whatever he chose anyway.

"What am I going to do?" Oishi said in a resigned voice. Sitting between the bushes and the wall while trying to hide from his friends and kohai wasn't in his plan but he didn't have much of a choice when he saw Eiji, Fuji and Inui heading towards his direction right after the bell rang. The way he was acting was too suspicious for his own good but his brain wasn't telling him that. It was rather busy thinking up of ways to avoid everything all together without jeopardizing his mental well-being.

"It's not everyday one of your teammates confesses to someone _and_ you happen to see it accidentally," he murmured to himself in a tone that showed how utterly unfair life could be.

"Oh? So that's the reason why you have been avoiding us like the plague this morning."

Dread instantly filled his stomach that Oishi had a hard time turning his head towards the amused and all-too-familiar voice behind him. He had a strong feeling of hitting himself when he didn't realized there was a window right behind him and a certain someone was casually leaning on the window frame looking down at him with a smile that shot chills down his spine.

Fuji Syusuke.

It took him two seconds to stop himself from squealing like a surprised little girl and another second to get up on his feet and run like a mad man out of hell.

His plan obviously didn't work for a pair of hands suddenly grabbed the collar of his uniform pulling him right back to his previous spot. He gazed back at the brunette only to see him still smiling that same innocent and deceiving smile. Multiple thoughts and scenarios crossed his mind on how he could possibly deal with this situation and he ended up with two choices. _Again._

First, he could _lie_ to him about what he said and blame it on the lack of sleep. The problem with this would be he was too nervous right now and even _attempting_ to lie was so futile because his friend could easily read through him anyway.

Second, he could tell him the _truth_ and Fuji would help his solve his problem and everything would go back to the way it was.

_'Yeah and maybe all of us could even go to the amusement park after this and eat ice cream and tomorrow I'll be the next president of Japan,'_ he inwardly sighed. Don't get him wrong, he's not insinuating that Fuji is a terrible person. He does have a legitimate excuse for his behavior.

Every single time something _unusual_ happened to their team that wasn't anticipated by their data-gathering player it always had something to do with their resident tensai. That was a scary thing by itself because Inui _never_ failed to write hundreds of probabilities down to the last 0.00001 percent. The big problem was Fuji never got caught _doing anything_ and they also didn't find any concrete evidence that pointed to his direction. However, that didn't stop their captain from assigning most of them laps as punishment because in the back of their minds they always knew it was him and that they all fell right to his trap.

It was also of great importance to note that Inui told him there's a high probability that Fuji is a great manipulator. The data man described him as being so great you wouldn't even know you were being manipulated to the very last second not until a feeling of being used suddenly rocks your very core. And by the time you realized it, it was already too late. You wouldn't be able to pinpoint anything back to the sadist of Seigaku even if you tried.

"Saa, let's grab some lunch and you can tell me all about your problem so that I can help you," Fuji smiled before pulling him right through the window into the corridor like a big sack of rice.

It was official. This day was one of the worst days in his entire life.

* * *

><p>"Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blu- Is it just me or is Inui-senpai's drink changing into the colors of the rainbow?" a distressed Momoshiro whispered to his seatmate who so happened to be Ryoma. They were currently <em>attempting<em> to enjoy their lunch in the cafeteria when their senpai suddenly appeared out of nowhere and placed three glasses of unidentifiable liquids in front of them. It was bad enough that they haven't even touched their food yet when they saw the disturbing scene and now they were being subjected to _drinking_ the vile concoctions judging by how their bespectacled teammate pushed the glasses towards their direction.

"I'm letting you two be the first to try my latest creation. It's called Inui Juice Chromaticity Deluxe Version 2," Inui informed them while scribbling a few things on his notebook.

"Version 2?" Ryoma managed to choke out. He had lost his appetite the moment he saw the liquid moving inside the glass in a way that made him want to review their lessons about the properties of a liquid just to make sure he wasn't losing his senses. Is that thing_ alive? _

"Yes. The previous version was tested on Kaido-" he immediately stopped himself upon seeing the panicked looks on their faces.

_((Note: Avoid mentioning previous taste testers when introducing new creations. Subjects are immediately showing signs of panic.))_

_'Now I know why Mamushi was sent home early,' _Momo thought fearful of how they were going to spend their lunch break.

Inui tried again.

"What I mean to say was that the previous version needed to be improved because of certain side-effects. Don't worry. They weren't fatal or permanently damaging to the body. It's only temporary and in the next few days it will wear off," he smiled professionally at them before picking up two glasses and gently shoving it towards their faces.

"Ano.. Inui-senpai."

That sweet sounding voice startled the wits out of Inui that he had accidentally poured the contents of the glasses into his teammates' lunch. He whipped his head to the left and there she was standing a few feet away with all that innocent, sweet and child-like air surrounding her. After placing the glasses down, he suddenly grabbed his notebook and flipped though the pages until he finally reached the one he was looking for. He looked back and forth between the words he had written and the confused face of Ryuzaki Sakuno.

* * *

><p><em>Ryuzaki Sakuno File no. 25<em>

_Weather Condition: Sunny with relatively few clouds_

_Lunch Location Preferences: _

_20% -Rooftop with Osakada Tomoka only_

_20% - Outside with Osakada Tomoka only_

_10% - Rooftop with Osakada Tomoka and other freshmen students_

_10% - Outside with Osakada Tomoka and other freshmen students_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_5%- Cafeteria with Osakada Tomoka and other freshmen students_

__3% - Cafeteria with Ryoma Echizen only__

_2% - Cafeteria by herself_

* * *

><p>He was so sure that Sakuno would spend her lunch time outside because of the fine weather or even inside their classroom since she always brought a lunch box with her and not <em>here<em> at the cafeteria. It was the main reason he was here in the first place.

_((Reasons for avoiding Ryuzaki: still unknown))_

He finally closed his notebook and shifted his full attention to their coach's granddaughter.

"Yes, Ryuzaki?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting your discussion with Ryoma-kun and Momoshiro-senpai," she bowed apologetically. Inui mentally took note that she was definitely cured of her stuttering problem back in their middle school days.

"That is alright. Momo and Echize-" he turned back to his teammates only to find that the seats that they were supposed to be occupying were now vacant. All that was left were their lunch trays and the food with his Inui Juice Chromaticity Deluxe Version 2 as toppings.

"Eto... They ran that way,senpai," she pointed towards the exit of the cafeteria.

A frown immediately plastered on his face as he thought of the reasons why they suddenly left without a word.

_'Did they also eat the Yakisoba bread yesterday?'_ he mused only to be interrupted by the slight pull on his uniform sleeve.

"Senpai?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for calling you out so suddenly."

"Calling me out?" _Huh? _

"Uhm. Yes? I asked Oishi-senpai to tell you to meet me during lunch," she answered looking just as confused as he was.

"Ah.. right right. It's not a problem. What were you going to tell me?" he managed to catch himself in time. Oishi must have forgotten to tell him about it since he did ran out of their classroom in a hurry because of... erm.. some certain _business_ to take care of.

"It's about the proposal you gave me yesterday," she said fumbling with her hands. And that was when he finally noticed the wrapped lunch box she was holding.

He managed to swallow the lump in his throat before answering back.

"So..."

"I would love to, senpai." she smiled up at him. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure because he wasn't entertaining the idea of her actually accepting the position. He had already come up with different scenarios and reasons as to how and why she wouldn't concede to the idea of being their club manager.

"Is that a yes?" he asked dumbly. She stared at him for a while before putting a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggling that suddenly ensued.

"I'm so sorry for laughing, senpai. I just wasn't expecting you to say something like that," she confessed after her giggling finally subsided.

"To be honest, I wasn't really anticipating a favourable answer," Inui said while tapping the end of his pen to the surface of his notebook. A miscalculation, huh?

"Eh? How come?"

"Well... There are a few conditions that haven't been met yet and a few circumstances that I would have to face," he admitted. The stern faces of Tezuka and Coach Ryuzaki popped in his mind.

"Does it include informing obaa-chan?"

"More or less," he sheepishly affirmed while scratching the back of his head.

"So _that's_ why she was surprised when I told her about it,"she said while nodding her head in understanding.

"Is her reaction... favourable?" he asked nervously.

"Don't worry, senpai. She said it was okay with her since it was my decision anyway," she grinned earning a relieved sigh from the bespectacled young lad.

"Eto... Before I forget, this is for you, Inui-senpai," she cheerfully handed him the bento that she was holding.

"It's my way of saying 'thank you' for yesterday. Obaa-chan also helped me prepare food that would help you with your injury," she explained upon noticing the bewildered look on his face.

"Uhm..., I'll be leaving first then, senpai," Sakuno took a step back before politely bowing her head and scurrying off not waiting for his response.

To be honest, Inui was too caught up with his thoughts to even _give_ her a response. He was busy re-examining and contemplating on all the variables at hand because his data was proven wrong.

How did he know he was _wrong_ and it wasn't just another minor miscalculation? It was because there wasn't _even_ a 0.00001 percent chance written on his trusty notebook that she was going to give him a bento today.

He raised his eyes from his notebook only to see the certain auburn haired girl who was occupying the larger part of his musings look back at his direction while waving and smiling in this adorable manner-_did he just thought of the word 'adorable'?. _His stomach and heart also continued exhibiting signs of some strange sickness that he had yet to discover.

_What the hell is happening?_

"Congratulations, Inui!" Fuji beamed at him from behind effectively interrupting his train of thought. He turned around to see his friends smiling widely at him.

"You have _no idea_ what kind of hell I had to go through to keep your secret," Oishi patted his back.

"I don't understand," Inui looked at them questioningly his brows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't even want to talk about it. I'm just glad everything worked out for you in the end so congrats," Oishi offered him a patronizing smile.

"I honestly have no idea what you both are talking about so I'll start off from the beginning. Why are the two of you congratulating me?" he asked picking up the remaining glass of his Inui Juice Chromaticity Deluxe Version 2. He seriously needed a drink right now.

"For getting a girlfriend. What else?" they both chorused while Inui just pitifully choked on his drink.

"Nya! So that's where you guys are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Kikumaru exclaimed fervently while Tezuka and Kawamura silently walked behind him.

"What's going on?" a clueless Kawamura asked seeing the unusual scene in front of him. Tezuka also shared the same sentiments as he looked from a smiling Fuji to a coughing Inui.

"Well, Inui here just got a girlfriend," Oishi grinned at them still patting the back of their data tennis player

"Woah! Really? Who is it? Who is it?" Kikumaru bounced up and down in excitement while Inui pathetically attempted to stop himself from choking to death due to his own creation.

"Whuu ergghh.. uhuh! I-gahhuh! dunhav-uhuh- girl-uhu erghh!" Inui desperately wished they had the patience to wait for him to stop hacking so that they would know that he was trying to say:_ "What? I don't have a girlfriend!"_

"Ryuzaki Sakuno."_ Too late._

Inui was again subjected to another coughing-choking fit only this time he even had the decency to blush.

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note[2]<span>: I don't know if I'm having too much fun with writing this that everyone's turning a bit OOC.

I would really love to hear from you guys so I came up with this:

If you think this chapter's good or you like it then you could type in: **INABAUER **

If it needs improvement then type in: **MADA MADA DANE**

You don't have to write anything else if you don't want to I just really want some feedback on my writing and characterization and this is the simplest way I could think of without causing you guys trouble ^^

and no.. Inui's _not_ a stalker... he's just... _Inui._


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi-sensei and other rightful owners not me.

**Author's Note:**

I'm really thankful for all the views/reviews/favorites last chapter. I am also thankful to those who are still reading or waiting for this even if I have not updated for the past _year._ Yes, I've been gone for that long and I'm terribly sorry. I can't promise to update sooner but I'll try updating once a month. The only thing I'm absolutely certain about is I won't be leaving this fanfic unfinished.

If anyone's interested to know INABAUER came from one of the episodes in New Prince of Tennis. It was the chant that Kirihara Akaya kept saying so that the so-called "ghost" at the dorm would stay away from him.

Again, italicized words between the horizontal lines or (( )) are Inui's notes or flashbacks. This chapter is written in Sakuno's POV (finally). Happy reading!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 4<strong>

* * *

><p>Ryuzaki Sakuno can be seen walking towards the familiar path to Seigaku's tennis courts. She was supposed to meet her grandmother half an hour ago but she wasn't able to due to her duties as a student assistant in their school library. It had been an unexpected decision on her part to accept the job but she did not regret it in anyway. Back in her younger years as a middle school student she had always been very fond of reading. Her grades reflected that. The only subject she was not very well acquainted with was English but she had managed to overcome her difficulties with constant studying and practice. It was during their last year in middle school that she decided to spend most of her free time in the library and not in the tennis courts. She was able to befriend the school librarian and was offered the position as a student assistant there. She had accepted immediately, of course. She also decided to continue being one as she entered high school since Seigaku's library was for the use of both middle school and high school students anyway. Her reminiscing was interrupted upon seeing the familiar figure of her grandmother. She smiled brightly and hastened her steps. She passed by one of the courts just as the regulars were running laps. Oblivious to the reactions to her arrival, she kept looking straight at her grandmother.<p>

"Obaa-chan! I'm really sorry for being late," she sheepishly smiled and bowed at the older Ryuzaki.

"It's fine. Tezuka wanted to extend the practice hours for today anyway," Ryuzaki Sumire waved her hand to dismiss her granddaughter's apology.

"How are the senpai-tachi doing?" she inquired her eyes now focused on the running figures in front of them.

"They're still as energetic as ever," her grandmother grinned earning a chuckle from Sakuno. Their conversation was cut short when they heard a clattering sound behind them. They saw Inui Sadaharu collide with the bench and the cups filled with his liquid creation spill on him. Sakuno had a small knot on her forehead as she noticed that her senpai did not immediately make a move to remove the spill that would undoubtedly leave a stain on his shirt if left alone. She quickly reached for a handkerchief from her pocket and headed to her senpai's direction leaving behind Ryuzaki Sumire who was raising a brow at the entire scene.

"Ano, Inui-senpai. You can use this," Sakuno said and handed out her handkerchief. A look of concern graced her features as she gazed back at him. It took a few seconds before her senpai managed to react to her presence.

"Thank you," he uttered as he took the handkerchief. Sakuno became more confused as she saw him furrow his brows at the piece of cloth in his hand.

"Inui-senpai?"

No response.

"Eto…"

After not receiving a response again, Sakuno placed her hand on his arm in an attempt to gently shake her senpai back to his senses. She wasn't expecting him to act so surprised from her little gesture.

"!"

"S-senpai?"

"Ah… Yes?"

"Are you really alright, senpai?" Sakuno was beginning to worry further as she saw how his cheeks were slightly turning pink maybe from the heat. She was about to tell him that but he said something even more worrying.

"Yes, I am. Although I think I might be experiencing some mild form of heatstroke."

Sakuno frantically looked back at her grandmother to ask for help but her bespectacled senpai quickly strode off somewhere leaving her in panic. She ran to her grandmother and informed her of what happened. Her grandmother just smiled at her and told her not to worry because she was also observing Inui and did not see anything physically wrong with him. She breathed a sigh of relief at her words but there was still a tiny nagging feeling in her mind that something was bothering her senpai. She decided to just ask him about it tomorrow if she managed to see him again.

* * *

><p>"Sakuno-chan, I think it's already time for you to go to your grandmother," a kind voice interrupted Sakuno who was preoccupied with reading a book. The brunette glanced up to see Inoue Ayame, the school librarian, smiling gently at her. Sakuno immediately apologized for not keeping track of the time. Classes were long over and she decided to spend a few hours at the library to help with the organizing of the books that were returned today and finish her homework. She was too absorbed in reading their latest assignment in Japanese Literature that she had not noticed the time. The kind woman chuckled softly at her behavior and merely patted her head like a child before leaving the embarrassed girl to fix her belongings. Sakuno's eyes followed the figure of Inoue Ayame as she gracefully picked up a few books from the tables. The woman was very beautiful with long black hair cascading down her back reaching her waist. She had striking green eyes and porcelain white skin. Her voice was very soft and the way she carried herself spoke of elegance and grace. Sakuno briefly wondered if Inoue-san was a rich young lady of noble blood. She shook her head to dismiss her ridiculous thoughts. Clearly, if her far-fetched musings were correct then she was sure her family would not immediately approve of their daughter working as a school librarian.<p>

"I must have read too much," she chuckled to herself as she picked up the book she was previously reading. The same book that talked about a noble woman who exuded the same grace and elegance as their school's librarian. After arranging her things in her bag, Sakuno cheerfully bid goodbye to the older woman before hurrying towards the stairs. It was a good thing that she would still reach the tennis courts in time. She wouldn't want her grandmother to wait for her after being late yesterday. Plus, she also wanted to go there early to find Inui and ask him about his condition. She didn't see him along the hallway or in the cafeteria this day and decided to wait for their tennis practice to end instead. So, it was a surprise for Sakuno to see the center of her thoughts currently walking up the same flight of stairs with his every present notebook hiding his face.

"Inu-" she was about to call out to him but he continued his steps. She wasn't able to step aside thus causing her senpai to unceremoniously bump into her. She lost her balance and honestly thought she was going to hit her head on the floor as she fell. She braced herself for the painful impact only to open her eyes and see Inui acting as her cushion and breaking her fall. She was about to stutter an apology when she saw the painful look on his face.

She quickly sat up and checked him for any external injuries her embarrassment now clearly forgotten.

"Where does it hurt, senpai?" she asked in a worried tone while looking over him.

At the sound of her voice, Inui managed to open one eye to look at her.

"I'm sorry about that, Ryuzaki," instead he apologized.

"Don't worry about it,senpai! I'm alright," she interjected not wanting to blame her senpai for the accident. Sakuno did not want him to feel that it was his fault when she was the one who was blocking the way. She stood up and held out her hand to help him as well.

"Can you stand, senpai?"

"Yes, I think so," he managed to say and clasped his hand with hers. As their hands met, Sakuno caught the gasp that escaped from the older boy's lips. She carefully inspected his hand and saw that it was beginning to swell up.

She immediately felt even more guilty for what had happened. If she was only careful enough to not lose her balance then they wouldn't be in such a predicament right now. She bit her lip to stop herself from spurting out apologies and making her senpai feel even more worried. She already guessed that he was blaming himself for the accident based on his statements.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, senpai," Sakuno uttered again not knowing how to make it up to him. They were currently at the infirmary waiting for the nurse to come back after informing her grandmother of what happened to one of the members of their team. Fortunately, it was Inui's left hand that was sprained when he used it to cushion their fall and not his dominant right hand.<p>

"I should be the one apologizing, Ryuzaki," she saw him smile feeling more guilty about the ordeal.

"B-but it isn't your fault, senpai," she insisted only to be stopped by the look on his face. Her gaze fell down and her hands fumbled with the hem of her skirt. She always did this every time she felt shy, distraught or uncomfortable. It was a habit that she never really outgrew. Still thinking of ways on how to make it up to him, Sakuno did not see the soft gaze of Seigaku's data tennis player nor did she expect the next words that would come out of his mouth.

"Ryuzaki," he called out to her.

"Hai?" she looked up and saw a small smile on the dark-haired boy's face.

"Are you interested in becoming the manager for the team?"

The question caught her off guard and she wasn't able to immediately form a reply. Would she accept it? If she did then she would have to balance her time as their manager and help in the library, as well. She was also concerned that she might not be able to spend her free time the way she wanted to because of the planned week-end training sessions that the men's tennis club would occasionally engage in.

"A-ano..,"she started not really knowing what to say at the moment. Thankfully, her senpai managed to help her with the predicament.

"You don't have to answer right away. These things shouldn't be taken lightly so I'll wait for your answer," he said easing her worries.

"Ah..Hai. Thank you, senpai," she said and offered him an appreciative smile. She found it quite endearing that he understood her reluctance and did not want to pressure her with an answer. She was still not as assertive as she wanted to be and could never explicitly say 'no' to people who would ask favors from her.

They continued conversing about random things but their usual topic involved the regulars. She felt a bit nostalgic as they reminisced about the past matches of their team and how they had won the nationals. It was when her grandmother together with Tezuka emerged from the doorway did their conversation stop. Sakuno bid her senpai-tachi goodbye and apologized once again to Inui before she went home with their coach.

* * *

><p>After taking a bath, Sakuno went straight to her room. She did her usual before-bedtime-rituals like drying her hair, double-checking her homework for tomorrow, placing her uniform near her bathroom door for easy access and lastly, writing about her day in her journal. She sat down at her study table and placed her journal in front of her. It had been an incredibly eventful day she thought as she opened the worn-out green notebook. She smiled upon remembering the memory of how she had gotten it. She flipped the pages and found the her very first entry. It wasn't really a journal entry but a list of books and their corresponding codes. It also wasn't written by her but by the previous owner. Even if she had only written a few check marks beside the titles she considered this to be the first entry she wrote in it.<p>

_"Eto..," Sakuno ,3rd year middle school student, mumbled quietly as she continued looking back and forth between the cart of books and shelves in front of her. It was her first day as an assistant librarian in their school and she was already having a hard time returning the books to their respective places. She would've gladly accepted an increase of a few more inches to her height just so that she could do her work without disruption. She sighed and resigned herself to trying her best to fulfill her duties. She would just have to make use of the ladder to do her work even if she was worried about climbing up the contraption for fear of causing any accidents. _

_A voice startled the young girl just as she had managed to climb up three steps thus making her let go of the books she was holding in her arm. It was caught however by the swift movements of a pair of hands. Her gaze traveled from the pale hands, lean arms, broad shoulders to the surprised face of Inui Sadaharu. Again, she squeaked in surprise not really expecting to see her senpai here although she knew that he frequented the library. She learned about that fact when she unintentionally stumbled upon his library records and saw the massive amount of books that he borrowed every week._

_"Senpai!" she blurted out only to be silenced when he placed a finger over her lips. She blushed furiously at the contact and judging from the look of the boy in front of her, he was also quite surprised by his actions. Sakuno was relieved when her senpai quickly retracted his hand. _

_"Sorry about surprising you,"he started to which she merely nodded not trusting herself to speak right now._

_"I was wondering if you know where I could find these books. They're not in their respective shelves," he said and started reciting the titles of the books he was looking for. She was at lost when he finished because she wasn't able to remember everything he just enumerated. Sensing her dilemma, Inui handed her his notebook so that she would be able to assist him. Smiling in gratitude, she carefully stepped down the ladder then __started to rummage through the numerous books in her cart. The brunette was thankful to know that most of what he was looking for was there. She put small checks on the list to mark the books they managed to find. _

_They moved from one shelf to another and after a few minutes, they were able to complete the list. Before the dark-haired boy was able to thank her, a female student approached them._

_"Excuse me?" the girl asked Sakuno._

_"Ah.. Yes?" Sakuno gingerly replied._

_"Do you know where I can look for books on..," the girl then enumerated her own list. Sakuno excused herself to get a piece of paper to write down everything the girl wanted to look for but stopped in her tracks when Inui handed her his notebook._

_"Senpai?"_

_"You can use this. I still have a spare notebook in my bag."_

_"B-but, what about your notes?" she warily glanced at the green notebook. She knew that he valued his notebook greatly. It was almost a permanent fixture on him. She would always see him with it no matter where he was. During club practices, during official matches when he was gathering data on other players and even during his breaktime! She also saw the great lengths some of her senpai-tachi underwent just to have a glance at what was written inside. Inui shook his head before placing it in her hands._

_"It's fine. I have a soft copy of my notes back at home. There isn't much written there anyway," he said. Before she could refuse he had already walked away carrying a stack of books in his arms leaving Sakuno bewildered with the chain of events._

Back in the present time, Sakuno smiled as she recalled the memory. She flipped through the first pages of the notebook where Inui had written his observations about his team mates and friends. Some of them were very insightful and some of them were quite hilarious. She giggled upon reading an entry about how he described the regulars' reactions about the Inui juice he created. She did try to return the notebook to him but upon seeing that he did indeed have a spare one the next day she decided otherwise. In some way, she felt glad that she didn't have to give it back because she was able to understand him a bit better through this. Sakuno attributed her selfish act to curiosity. Reading about people and their surroundings being described in his words was very interesting. Just as if she was reading his journal. Not that she knew if he had kept a private journal but that was how she felt every time she read his entries. It was then that she started treating the green notebook as a journal. At some point, she also started writing in it following the same format he used whenever he wrote his observations. She grabbed a pen and started writing, her forehead knotting in concentration.

_Date: X_月 X日

_Time: 8:48 P.M._

_Today was very eventful. A lot of things had happened both good and bad. I'm still quite at lost at what to do but now that I was able to collect my thoughts I think I'm going to accept Inui-senpai's offer..._

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><p><strong>AN: **I'm sorry if the chapter doesn't have enough humor but I wanted to start building up the pace of the story to make up for the time I wasn't able to update. The whole librarian assistant concept would most likely play a big part in this story and I know that it might cause some conflict in Sakuno's schedule if she's the tennis club's manager and also a student assistant but no worries. For the sake of the story I will be introducting an OC. To be quite honest, I'm not a big fan of OCs unless they play a really important role in the story so do expect to read Inoue Ayame come up every now and then.

I apologize if there are a few spelling, grammar or characterization mistakes here and there.

Thanks again for reading this and I hope to still hear from you all~

**This chapter is dedicated to Chapter 4's reviewers and the people who added this to their favorites/story alerts:**

six fingers and counting, AlwaysRunning9, CoookieMonsteerx3, IfLooksCouldKill13, Iku-sensei, IreneRoseAnastasia, Jaz-147, Katarin Kishika, Linnea Farhen, RequiemDreamer56, Rinx Lawrence, The Magician of MoonLight, blackrabbit99, deadpeace6868, eionoame, kikumarucat, mysweetkat, onyxinlife, sang14, xXpandaPopcandy11Xx, xxpinkgrlxx, PanUchiha7105, Twix03, apcolypsehesarisen, gincitri, kaho-saku, kitty cat lysanne, whitelilies, lostariel, hikao-chan, tropper731, MissKain

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><p>Inabauer? Mada Mada Dane?<p> 


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